The Watcher
by RavenHeart777
Summary: Zutara... written from aang's perspective. Post battle. last two chapters up! wedding of the era! right here!
1. watching

_ok, well... to all of you who followed my other Zutara story,"Of Oceans and Infernos" i am _**very **_sorry. my computer crashed and i lost everything and i just don't have the heart to start that one up again. i'm going to go back to writing drabbles and one shots now. this is the first of those. i started writing this today, just as a fun sort of thing, and it exploded and i really like it, and i hope you do too._

_and yeah, there's going to be more than one chapter, but i already have it all written out. so it WILL get posted. i'm just doing more than one chapter because i like the way it flows. i'm a little busy this weekend, but it will be up by monday at the latest. knock on wood_

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_so basically this is a post-battle story from Aang's perspective. he'll keep refering to 'they' and yes, 'they' are Zuko and Katara. i know i don't mention any names here, i just sort of like it this way._

_ i was beating myself up about whether to make the watcher Aang or Jet, but in the end i decided on Aang, cause Jet wouldn't be this passive.  
_

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I don't own avatar. or anything for that matter. you guys have totally failed on the Johnny Depp thing. i hear he's getting married now. T.T

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**The Watcher**

All night, he watched them.

He watched, and he saw everything.

That look.

That laugh.

Her eyes.

His smile.

He saw everything, and it killed him.

He watched as they danced together and ate together.

He watched as they talked and joked.

He watched them, and they paid him no attention at all.

The Palace of the Fire Lord had served as many things over the last months: The home of a War Lord, a battle ground, a crypt, a hospital, a visual representation of the changes going on around the world, a symbol of hope, and now, every door was flung wide and delegates from all four Nations were invited into it's halls to celebrate the dawning of a new Era. Young and old, rich and poor, benders and not, warriors and farmers, princes and peasants were invited to the ball, and they came. They came from all over the world to celebrate everything that they could not celebrate for one hundred years. They came to celebrate the hope and peace that had for so long, eluded them.

All of them were there to see him.

All of them wanted to touch him and shake his hand.

All of them wanted to be with him.

All except for the two that he couldn't take his eyes off.

He wondered now, as he watched her brush his cheek with the tips of her long, tapered fingers, how he could have missed the chemistry between them for so long; he wondered why this was such a shock.

No one seemed to want to leave. Leaving would mean going back to the task that was before them; rebuilding. It was so much easier to just dance and talk and eat and drink, and so they did. The ball had started at mid-day; it was now midnight.

He saw him take her hand and whisper into her ear.

He saw her nod.

He saw them slip away from their group and move away from the main ball room.

He followed.

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_comments are my crack._

_feed the addiction. _

_ciao!! Raven Heart  
_


	2. silence

_hah. told you guys i'd have it up by today. finished typing it up and got posted it exactly when i said i did._

_i must say i'm proud of myself._

_ **This is still ALL from Aang's perspective. that's important to keep in mind.**_

_also, i'd like to appoligize in advance... it may get a little confusing when Aang starts talking about Zuko... just try not to over annalyze it.  
_

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**blah blah blah i don't own these characters blah blah blah. if i did would Zuko be being so frustratingly non-Zutara?**_**  
**_

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Silence

He was silent as they moved through the halls of the Palace, now all but deserted.

He was silent as they entered the court yard garden.

He was silent as he watched them standing under a tree next to a small pond.

He was silent, and the world seemed to hold it's breath.

The sky was cloudless and the full moon illuminated the garden with an ethereal silver-blue light, reflecting off the surface of the pond and staining the leaves of the trees with ink and diamonds.

They stood under the tree gazing into each other's eyes, murmuring words that he couldn't hear.

He felt as though something was creeping up on him. He didn't know what, but he could feel something in the air.

He gazed at her.

When he had first met her, she was a girl. Young and innocent and passionate. He had loved her. He had watched her grow and mature, becoming a Master Bender and becoming more confident in herself. She had blossomed, and there was a time when he had thought that they would be together forever. He remembered dancing with her; the way she had moved and the way she had looked that night were burned into his memory forever, he had been certain that when it was all over, he and his love would be together forever.

But then...

His gaze shifted to the man holding her hand and waist.

He had betrayed them.

He had tried to kill them.

He had hunted them and hurt them and threatened them and even after all that...

When he had come back, who had been the first to forgive this boy-turned-Man?

Toph, who could read whether or not he was lying by vibrations in the earth she bent?

no.

He himself? The person who was supposed to bring balance to the world, forgiving all?

Obviously not Sokka.

no...

It had been her. She defended him from Sokka's blatant violence, and from Toph's menace.

She had even tried to explain his own hostility...

He had felt hurt even then; but now... he was dying.

He saw the man slip a hand in to his pocket and pull out a necklace...

He saw her raise her hands to her mouth...

He saw him get down on one knee...

He saw her eyes widen...

He saw his mouth form a question...

He saw her nod...

He saw the smile spread over his face and his eyes light up...

He saw her throw her arms around his neck...

He saw their lips meet...

He turned away, and began walking back to the ball room.

He tried to be happy for them.

He knew that nothing would change between him and Katara... she had always thought of him her best friend.

And besides...

He knew a lost cause when he saw one.

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_oh my god you guys... i have GOT to do a wedding for this one. gonna work on that right now. should be up later today or tomorrow._

_ comment please!!!_

_if you do i'll give you a cookie!!_

_ ciao!! Raven Heart  
_


	3. Five Years Later: The Wedding

_this is the last chapter to The Watcher. it's a different style from the last two chapters because I wanted this to be a happy occasion. not all Aangsty like the other two. yes, this does take place about five years after Zuko proposes to Katara. (remember how young they are.) but this is the wedding. i am espically proud of the vows, so read and review please!!!_

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**blah blah blah copyright info **

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It was traditional for the weddings of the Fire Nation to be held at the Summer Solstice

It was traditional for the weddings of the Fire Nation to take place at sunrise.

It was traditional for the guests of Fire Nation weddings to wear orange.

it was traditional for the Groom in Fire Nation weddings to wear all gold and the Bride to wear all red.

it was traditional for the bride and groom to be wed by The Fire Sages.

it was traditional for the bride in a Fire Nation wedding to consent fully and abjectly to the grooms authority.

"Katara... I think it's rude to freeze the Fire Sages and then just walk away..."

"Don't care."

needless to say, this was not going to be a traditional fire nation wedding.

Katara and Zuko chose to be wed not at the Summer Solstice, but at the Autumn Equinox when day and night were of equal length and the moon and sun ruled the sky together.

Katara and Zuko chose to be wed not at sunrise but at a point when both the moon and the sun were in the sky.

Katara and Zuko chose to tell their guests to wear whatever they damn well pleased to their wedding

Katara and Zuko chose to wear what ever colors they wanted; he wore a simple red shirt with gold trim, black pants and a robe with varying shades of red. Katara wore a black dress with a robe of blue trimmed in white fur and embroidered with silver thread over the top of it.

Katara and Zuko chose to be wed by one Fire Sage and by Master Paku.

Katara and Zuko each pledged only love and loyalty to each other at their wedding, with vows they wrote themselves.

The wedding was to take place outside so that the moon and sun could be witness to this most historic wedding. the guests were many and varied, from the royalty of both the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes down to swamp dwellers (who were given a rather wide birth) , bounty hunters, warriors, fortune tellers, all the champion wrestlers of the Earth Kingdom, the King of the Earth Kingdom (who was also given a rather wide berth), and everyone in-between.

The day was cool and clear and crisp. the end of the summer had been cool and so all the leaves on the trees were a riot of oranges and reds and golds. With these colors plastered against the clear blue sky, everyone had to admit that it was a truly remarkable coincidence... as though some desperate writer had made it be so.

when everyone was seated, a gong sounded and silence fell on the guests.

music started up from a group of people dressed in togas and flowers and the high clear sound of a flute rose above it all.

from the right of the altar entered the Fire lord and the Head Fire Sage.

From the Left entered the Daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribes and Master Paku.

So began the ceremony.

It was a beautiful hybrid of both culture's ceremonies; they had kept only the most romantic and thrilling parts and left out what they didn't care for.

Finally it was time for the vows.

Zuko stood first and said, rather nervously, "Katara: I take you, with joy and celebration, to be my wife, partner and one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward forever and ever. You are my opposite and my equal, I can never tell you how much I love and respect you because each day my love and respect grow deeper. I love you the way that you are and I will swear by the Spirits that my love for you will never waver. I give myself to you."

There was a stunned silence, save for much sniffling from the ladies and an enormous amount of crying and bawling from the hippies

and Uncle Iroh.

Finally Katara seemed to remember where she was and what was going on for she wiped her eyes hurriedly, stood, cleared her throat, and said in a slightly choked voice: "Zuko, today I become your wife and you become my husband. I will strive to give you the best of myself, while accepting you the way you are. I promise to respect you as a whole person with your own interests, desires, and needs, and to realize that those are sometimes different, but no less important than my own. I promise to keep myself open to you, to let you in to my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams. I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face change as we both change, keeping our relationship alive and exciting. And finally, I promise to love you in good times and in bad, with all I have to give and all that I am, in the only way I know how -- completely and forever. I know that our love will be full of both joy and sadness and I am more than ready to face all of these things with you. We have both grown up since you proposed to me and my love has only grown deeper. You are the sun in my sky, the warmth in my heart, and the light in my life. We are Yin and Yang, opposites and equals, and I swear before the spirits that my love and loyalty will never waver. I give my self to you."

By now there wasn't a dry eye in the place. After a slight pause Master Paku and The Fire Sage said together (in rather husky voices) "You may kiss the Bride."

Their lips met and the whole assembly erupted in cheers.

Aang, grinning along with the rest of them put his arm around his wife's shoulders and rested his cheek on top of her head.

"Sugarqueen and Hothead have got it bad, don't they, Twinkletoes?" said Toph.

"Nah," said Aang, still smiling up at the altar. "No worse than you and me."

That statement earned him a light punch in the ribs.

"Get real Twinkletoes, like I'd ever say anything that corny about you." Retorted the Blind Bandit, wiping her eyes discreetly on her sleeve.

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_muahahahahahah _

_ i actually finished somthing i started!!!_

_take that critics!!!_

_ i looooooooooooove reviews!!_

_ciao! Raven Heart  
_


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